The Second Edition of My Cookbook! Happy Day!

Life has been kind of crazy-busy for the last while...so I haven't done a blog post for months!  However, I am excited to have the second edition of my cookbook on amazon.com!  I have added a collection of healthy recipes, since I have had a renewed desire to eat more healthy...and have actually lost about 15 pounds by following my healthy recipe meal plan!  I hope you will enjoy it!

http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Cooking-Made-Easy/dp/0991273605/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

Recipe for Pecan and Apple Salad

Autumn time makes me think of apple pie at Thanksgiving and cuddling up with a blanket as the weather gets colder.  Ah...I love the combination of apples and pecans in this recipe!    This salad is full of yumminess!  :)

Pecan and Apple Salad

4 cups red leaf lettuce

1 cup butter lettuce

1 Fuji apple

¼ cup cauliflower pieces

¼ cup carrots, sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

½ cup pecans

1/3 cup sweetened, dried cranberries

Dressing:

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

1.  Wash and tear lettuce.  Peel and dice apple.  Slice cauliflower into small pieces and slice carrots.

2.  Pour sugar across non-stick frying pan.  Add pecans.  When sugar begins to dissolve, stir pecans until coated.  Remove from burner quickly when sugar dissolves.

3.  Add pecans and cranberries to lettuce, along with apple, cauliflower, and carrots.

4.  Prepare dressing and pour over salad just before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

Recipe for American Tacos

When I think of American Tacos, I think of my brother and sister-in-law.  They often serve delicious American Tacos at family dinners.  The flavor combination of this recipe is awesome!  Just like Miracle Max in The Princess Bride says about his MLT, the salad dressing for this recipe is "so perky...I love that!"  :)

American Tacos

1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 can kidney beans or gluten-free chili
5-6 cups lettuce, shredded or torn
1 tomato, diced
1 small can olives, sliced
1/2 cup cheese, grated
Fritos Corn Chips
1/3 cup Catalina dressing
1/4 cup gluten-free green taco sauce

Step 1:  Fry ground beef with onion.  Cool slightly.

Step 2:  Drain and rinse kidney beans or warm chili.

Step 3:  Mix Catalina dressing with green taco sauce and warm slightly.

Step 4:  Cover plate with desired amount of Fritos.  Sprinkle with ground beef and onion mixture, kidney beans or chili, lettuce, tomato, olives, and cheese.

Step 5:  Drizzle Catalina/green taco sauce mixture over all.

Serves 4 to 6.

Product Review of Mom's Place Hamburger Buns

Yum!  The taste of Mom's Place Hamburger Buns was wonderful and the texture was light and fluffy!  I am rating them at 8.5 out of 10.  I didn't have large tuna cans to bake the buns in, so I just used muffin tins and cut my hamburger patty to fit on the "roll."  It worked just fine and that way I didn't have to open up my large cans of chicken chunks to make the hamburger buns.  Delicious!  :)

(Photo source:  www.momsplaceglutenfree.com)

Vegetable and Hummus Pizza

Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention.  I made my pizza crust and then realized I only had enough pizza sauce for one of the two pizzas.  I wanted to do a veggie pizza, and I had some yellow crookneck squash from the garden I wanted to use.  I decided to spread Sabra Garlic Hummus across the pizza crust, then I fried some stir-fry vegetables and yellow crookneck squash and added that on top of the hummus.  The hummus was even more flavorful the next day.  Yum!

(Photo Source:  www.sabra.com)

Review of Kinnikinnick Blueberry Bagels

I have loved products from Kinnikinnick, and especially their chocolate donuts.  I was greatly disappointed in their blueberry bagels.  My daughter and I had been lamenting that we hadn't seen any gf blueberry bagels on the market.  Then, there they were.  We tasted them with happy anticipation, but couldn't get through the first bite without wishing we hadn't tasted them.  I am usually not quite this negative about gf products, but the texture of these donuts is like cardboard with a slight blueberry flavor.  Dry as can be, I'm sad to say.  I am rating them at 1.5 out of 10.  If you add a ton of cream cheese per morsel of bagel, they are tolerable.  :)

(Photo Source:  Google Images)

Burger King French Fries...and an Onion Ring?

Since we were diagnosed in 2003, I have enjoyed Burger King French fries occasionally.  I had checked the website several times to confirm the fries were gluten-free.  Several years ago, I noticed an onion ring in my French fries.  I called Burger King headquarters and they were helpful and our local Burger King was more careful after that.  It happened again a few days ago as we were in another state on our way home from our trip back East.  Unfortunately we discovered the onion ring after our daughter had eaten some of the French fries, and she got a stomach ache and several other symptoms.  Now the website has an asterisk by the words "French fries" and states:  "These products may be fried with gluten containing foods."

http://www.bk.com/cms/en/us/cms_out/digital_assets/files/pages/MenuGlutenFree.pdf

It is disappointing, though I understand that it would be difficult for every restaurant to have a dedicated fryer for French fries.  It is also a lesson to me to check websites from time to time to make sure whether restaurants have changed their allergen statement.

(Photo Source:  google images)